Republican leaders huddle over fiscal cliff

House Republican leaders Wednesday said the Senate needs to act first on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff, hinting they would not bring the House back into session until Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moves something through his chamber.

GOP Sen.: Obama 'political victory at bottom of cliff'

Fiscal cliff: A primer

The statement — from House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and Conference Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers — said if the Senate “will not approve and send them to the president to be signed into law in their current form, they must be amended and returned to the House.”

“Once this has occurred, the House will then consider whether to accept the bills as amended, or to send them back to the Senate with additional amendments,” the statement read. “The House will take this action on whatever the Senate can pass, but the Senate first must act. The lines of communication remain open, and we will continue to work with our colleagues to avert the largest tax hike in American history, and to address the underlying problem, which is spending.”

Late Wednesday, Senate Democrats fired back, saying House Republicans should pass a bill that would extend tax rates for income below $250,000. “The Senate bill could pass tomorrow if House Republicans would simply let it come to the floor,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Reid.

It comes after House Republican leadership held a conference call Wednesday, as a stalemate over the fiscal cliff continues. On Thursday, all House Republican lawmakers will have a conference call with leadership.

The call was limited to top GOP leaders, not the full House Republican conference, according to several sources. Leaders communicate frequently by conference call when the House is out of session. No decisions were made on the call.

Right now, the GOP position on the fiscal cliff is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs to move a bill to avert the fiscal cliff or else he’s abdicating his duties. That line will be played on repeat this week, aides say.

In a few days, tax rates jump on all income levels and federal spending cuts take hold. And late Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congressional leadership the nation’s statutory borrowing cap would be hit on Dec. 31. “Extraordinary measures” would allow the federal government to continue borrowing money for two months. But the fiscal cliff standoff throws even that calculation into flux.

But top Republicans also need to discuss whether to bring the House into session. GOP leadership has promised lawmakers a 48-hour warning if they decide to convene. That means the absolute earliest the House can come back would be Friday, if the warning was given Wednesday. But weather in Washington is dreadful and it's the height of the holiday travel season. Sources say it’s still possible the House returns before Jan. 1.

Hundreds of millions of Americans are going back to work the day after Christmas doing all the things that need to be done. If Congress can't get their sorry behinds in a plane seat to do the same then we should throw them all out. Tax increases on those above $800K per family or $400K individual, and $999 Billion in cuts over 10 years. Fix it.!

"GOP leaders"' now this one definitely trumps "military intelligence" or "NRA child care" as the biggest oxymoron out there. Betcha Boehner is considering eliminating the sales tax on UV lamps to boost the national GDP. Also, allowing infant formula to be mixed with the Tennessee moonshine could improve Southern exports to foreign countries to the north. What will the GOP "leadership" think of next?

These clowns should just stay out of Washington.........New elections--new crew......the House Republicans are a source of ridicule worldwide---stay home, resign, call new elections. It would be nice to have a House of REPRESENTATIVES that represented US---not Fox News and Grover Norquist..........Bunch of bought and paid for morons. Stay home---you humiliate yourselves every time you show up.

WHY are the GOP not squealing like stuck Pigs over this Pigford Farmers redistribution of Wealth and other fraudulent waste when it comes to denying raising Taxes.Also, SHOUTING about how the wealthy are already getting hit so with Obamacare taxes GEEWHIZ REPUBLICANS.....YOU ARE SUUUCH LOUSY COMMUNICATORS !! JUST DUMB ASSES! I DESPISE THIS PRESIDENT! IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PIGFORD SETTLEMETS ARE, LOOK IT UP.DAMMIT I HATE THESE PEOPLE!

Of course, Boehner's right: it's the responsibility of the Senate Democrats to do the job that the House Republicans and the Speaker could not: to work out a deal that the President and the House Republicans can agree to.

You recall, of course, that Obama and Boehner were conferring about this matter in a semi-cordial environment and made semi-progress. Then, Boehner decided that he'd play a political stunt and tried to push his own version of the agreement-that-wasn't through his caucus, knowing that it'd be unacceptable to the Democrats and hoping to score points with that maneuver.

Oops.

Boehner-now-with-egg-on-his-face couldn't pull that one off. Now, he's abdicating the responsibility to lead the GOP members of the House, and telling Harry Reid that he's supposed to do Boehner's job. That is, it's Reid's responsibility to come up with something the House Republicans like -- or at least that enough of them like to combine with the House Democrats to pass it.

Talk about abdicating responsibility. If Boehner can't work with the President through this mess, in part of his own creation, he should relinquish the speakership for someone who is actually willing to play a role in governing the country rather than pouting like 2 year olds.

No deal. lets go over the cliff. Most Americans want no deal. The chimp Cheney tax cuts need to expire. We can all pay more. Fk the 1%. Grover fat pig Norquest is losing this battle. Your taxes are going up fat pig. Looks like you will have to eat less hamburgers next year you disgusting fat slob. AVERAGE AMERICANS ARE GOING TO FORCE GROVER FAT PIG TO EAT LESS PINK SLIME . HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

The problem isn't with the senate, Mr. Boehner. What remains to be seen is what YOU can push through the house. Will you have the courage to buck the radicals in your party and instead work with Dems and the handful of Repubs in your caucus to do the right thing?

In a way I don't blame Boehner, almost anything thing the house passed over the last two years was tabled by Reid in the Senate. No discussion, no debate, no vote, no introduction of the house bills which Reid and his senate democratic collegues had the power to change, add and delete portions they didn't like. Then the Democrats complain about the filibuster when all the Republican bills are sitting in Reid's desk drawer and will never see the light of day. So why should the House pass anything? Why not let the senate pass what they can, it will be most interesting to see if Boehner allows what ever senate bill is passed to lie in his desk drawer like Reid has done with the house bills.

The problem is both parties have been playing poltical games in which each has placed his parties needs way above the country's. Each party wants 100% of its agenda and 0% of the other parties. It is the my highway or no way attitude of both parties. Both parties view of compromise and bipartisanship is the other parting ceding, capitulating 100% of their beliefs and letting one party or the other have it way 100% of the time. The bottom line is we have Republicans and Democrats in Washington D.C., not Americans. We have politicans only interested in their parties future and agenda, not Americas. Both sides would rather see America brought to her knees than give an inch.

So who's fault is it? It is ours for continuing to elect people from these two parties that have caused all our problems to begin with. So look in the mirror my friends, not to Washington. Most of the people on this site are just as partisan and intransigent as the people they elected. Party over country, we made this bed, now we must sleep in it.

House Republicans need to make it clear that they are unified against any tax increase or unreasonable cuts in defense spending unless there are substantial cuts in discretionary and entitlement budgets.

Similarly, the House GOP should make it clear that party discipline will rule on the debt ceiling and force Obama to the table on GOP terms.

Obama did NOT understand the Robin Hood story .... now, if O does NOT get his bounty from the rich he wants to steal 5 times the amount he wanted from the rich from the poor and middle class .... Obama, this is Robin Hood madness. .. On the other hand, what is wrong with going back to the good old time under Clinton, when we paid HIGHER taxes ...